title: A new class of animal collagen masquerading as an insect silk.
abstract: Collagen is ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, where it comprises some 28 diverse molecules that form the extracellular matrix within organisms. In the 1960s, an extracorporeal animal collagen that forms the cocoon of a small group of hymenopteran insects was postulated. Here we categorically demonstrate that the larvae of a sawfly species produce silk from three small collagen proteins. The native proteins do not contain hydroxyproline, a post translational modification normally considered characteristic of animal collagens. The function of the proteins as silks explains their unusual collagen features. Recombinant proteins could be produced in standard bacterial expression systems and assembled into stable collagen molecules, opening the door to manufacture a new class of artificial collagen materials.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Clunies Ross Street, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Tara D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: Yong Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Holly E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Trueman
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Alagacone
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sriskantha
authors.forename: Jacinta F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Mickey G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Huson
authors.forename: Jerome A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Werkmeister
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Glattauer
authors.forename: Violet
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stoichevska
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Mudie
authors.forename: Victoria S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Haritos
authors.forename: John A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ramshaw
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000737:chemistry; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D007313:Insecta / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D047011:Silk / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D047011:Silk; D003094:Collagen; D006909:Hydroxyproline